Stuck In The Moment
by firstlaughintartarus
Summary: He should have been there, right next to her, his arms wrapping her safely in a blanket of warmth, but all she felt was cold.


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td class="myborder_only_bottom" style="max-height: 999999px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style: outset;"Books » Percy Jackson and the Olympians » strongStuck In The Moment/strong/td  
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td style="max-height: 999999px;"Author: firstlaughintartarus/td  
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td style="max-height: 999999px;"Rated: T - English - Hurt/Comfort/General - Reviews: 4 - Published: 06-23-14 - Updated: 06-23-14/td  
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p style="max-height: 999999px;"Her eyes fluttered open after a restless sleep. Her heart pounded, wishing it had all been part of that horrible nightmare. His pale, lifeless face, his empty eyes, it had to have been all her imagination. Simply because Percy couldn't die, emwouldn't/em die, it would mean leaving her. And that was something he had promised never to do. She felt around her bed, looking for the warmth of Percy's body. The pair of them had taken to falling asleep in each other's beds. He should have been there, right next to her, his arms wrapping her safely in a blanket of warmth, but all she felt was cold. She sucked in a breath, it had been a while since she woke up alone, and it jarred her. She shook her head and jumped out of bed. She walked straight out of her cabin and peered into the porthole of Percy's room. His bed was empty, and didn't look slept in. That's okay, Annabeth thought, he's probably in the bathroom and he didn't sleep last night because the war had just ended. She pushed open the door. She walked past the little things all over the floor on her way to the bathroom, her heart breaking down just a little every time she walked past one of his filthy gym shorts, a camp T-shirt, or his jeans./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She knocked on the bathroom door once, twice. No answer./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Percy?" she called, slightly panicky now because his cold, clammy face was so real in her mind./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Percy!" she said, louder. Her friends' voices, sobs were closing in on her heart, whispering his name, over and over and over again. No breath. No breath coming from his lips, pouring out of his lips, his beautiful lips that she had kissed a million times. No life. But it had been a dream, hadn't it?/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She took a few deep breaths herself. He's in the mess hall, or on deck, she thought, the optimist in her was there, but weakened by the dread. She stumbled a bit on her way to the mess hall, pushing open the door with trembling fingers./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Leo, Piper, Hazel, Jason, Frank and Nico were sitting around the table./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Guys?" Annabeth whispered./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"They all looked at her. Jason, Frank, Nico and Leo looked devastated, sporting baggy eyes, pale faces and helpless expressions. Nico looked almost like he had been crying. The girls had tearstains running down their faces and red, bloodshot eyes. Hazel let loose another sob./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Why-why are you all crying?" Annabeth wailed, feeling the tears form in her eyes, though she didn't know why she was sad. emPercy's on deck, /emshe wanted to scream./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Where's Percy? Tell me where Percy is!" She shouted./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Annabeth…" Piper trailed off./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""PERCY!" Annabeth shouted and she ran out of the mess hall, away from those people that thought he was emdead/em. She fumbled up the stairs leading to the deck. She staggered on her feet, dizzy with the horrible possibility./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""PERCY!" she screamed again, tears streamed down her face./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Percy! Where are you?" she sobbed, running around the whole deck./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Percy! Seaweed Brain! Come back to me!" she sobbed and screamed until her throat was hoarse./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She slumped down against a pillar and put her head on her knees because the memories were piercing her brain, making every nerve in there rattle and cry alongside her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"They're twelve and she's looking at the boy with the sea green eyes, wondering what on earth to do with him. He's proved he's useful by retrieving the bolt and returning it in the nick of time. Not completely worthless, she thinks. She's feeling something small purr inside her, but shoos it away quickly./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Oh my gods, he's a guinea pig, she thinks. She has to get him to become his usual funny, sarcastic, annoyingly cute self again; she needs him to become Percy again. She might not have known it yet, but she needs this Percy Jackson more than she'd like to admit./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She feels like her arms are about to break, she knows it, they will shatter into a thousand pieces right now. But he's here again, and everything is okay, because Percy's here, and when Percy is there everything is better. He came for her, he came to save her, and that's what nearly makes her throw her arms around that totally seaweed brained son of Poseidon. That's what makes her heart start beating faster when he dances with her later that night./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She's thinking of the kiss right now, his shroud is burning and all she can think about is the feel of his lips, his sweet and salty, completely kissable lips, on hers. And her heart is breaking because he's gone. Seaweed Brain is gone. Tears well up in her eyes again and she almost doesn't see him standing there. The hug she gives him releases all her anger, fright, worry and most of all care into him. Percy doesn't know how she felt, heck, emshe/em doesn't know how she felt. How could a dimwitted son of Poseidon know then?/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She's smiling against his lips; it's beautiful, having your third, but second real kiss at the bottom of a lake all cozy in a little bubble. The kiss is wonderful; the taste of Percy's lips is just emheavenly. /emShe never wants to stop, not today, not tomorrow, not in a million years. His hands are on her back, resting on her bare skin because her t-shirt is kind of hitched up, and she feels warmth spread through her where his fingertips tickle her skin. emI'm crazy, /emshe thinks when she realizes how much she's wanted Percy this whole time, the reason for her anger when Rachel Elizabeth Dare came into play, why she's always been so protective of Percy. The happiness she always feels when Percy's around, it's all so simple, yet inexplicably complicated. emYou love him!/em Her heart is screaming at her and her brain is, only now, willing to accept it. She's in love - with emJackson/em. She's in love with the stupid, dimwitted, and absolutely emobtuse/em son of Poseidon. Go figure./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She stares into his eyes, the lights from the city of love are illuminating them. She had never dreamed she would be dining on the Eiffel Tower for her one-month anniversary with Percy. He really outdid himself. She wants to kiss him so bad, but she'd probably knock over the breadbasket if she tried leaning over the table. So she just holds his hand. They make small talk. It's awkward but it feels good, because there's that calm too, and they're new to this whole 'dating' thing. I mean, getting to kiss Percy whenever you want? It takes time to get used to. Simple gestures like holding hands make her all nervous and sweaty, and she starts thinking of all the ways she could mess up. Then when they kiss, oh wow. The way their lips move in sync, the way it spreads a hot, searing sensation all over her body, and the way he tastes, it's all so beautiful, so perfect. She's thinking about all this and chewing down her food. She almost misses it when Percy calls her a beautiful girl. And when they walk by the river after dinner, she kicks off her high heels and lets her dress get wet. Percy picks her up, spins her around and kisses her. There's that burning again./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emOh, gods/em. He's not there, he's not anywhere. Is he okay? Is he dead? Please let him not be dead. emPlease/em. She can feel his presence next to her but when she turns around to tell him something funny, she's just looking an expanse of cabins and grass. She prays to all the gods she knows of, even Hades. She sleeps, or at least tries to, in the Poseidon Cabin, hoping that if she surrounds herself by his smell and his things, she'll forget she's only hugging Pillow Percy and not the man himself. It doesn't work./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Oh, so close! So damn close. He had been a breath away from her fingers - she still feels the ghost of his body heat tingling her skin. She keeps thinking about what he said, emAre you real?/em Were those words of recognition, of hope, or of plain and trivial curiosity? She prays that he remembers her, because if he's forgotten everything then they're back to square one. Back to that day at camp when she used him as nothing more than a way to win Capture the Flag. She doesn't think she can handle seeing his face face devoid of emotion when he looks at her again - emif/em he ever looks at her again. /p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: left;"Her heart is hammering because she knows where they are now, how alone they are. She tells him to hold her and he does. The soft light from the stables and the gentle rocking of the boat feels relaxing, calm. It would be sending her to the land of dreams if not for Percy. The way he's nuzzling the tip of her ear is doing things to her chest. She turns her head hesitantly and kisses him. Almost automatically, emdutifully, /emhis arms are snaking around her, enveloping her in his warmth. She's fumbling with his hair and is slightly aware that she's leaning on him. He falls onto his back and she's on top of him. Oh, gods. She almost pulls away when she remembers how she had craved his touch all those nights in his bed. She wants this - bad. Annabeth makes her way to the side of his mouth, where she leaves kissed along the scruff of his jaw and behind his ear. emGood work, /emshe thinks to herself when Percy makes a low, desperate sound in his throat. Excitement turns to elation when he grabs her waist and flips them over, taking command. Annabeth is almost thankful to the Romans when he places his mouth on her collarbones and does amazing things with his tongue. She doesn't know where he learned to do emthat /embut it sure wasn't Camp Half-Blood./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""You're not dying on me, Seaweed Brain," she says, looking into Percy's beautiful eyes, they held so much thought and sorrow. "Remember? Never separated again. And after we get home…" She cuts off. She doesn't know what will happen. But she's kind of hoping some happy years of dating, and then maybe, possibly, hopefully… getting married, raising a family. All she knows is that when she looks many years into the future, he's always by her side. /p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""What?" Percy asks, because she's left him hanging. The anticipation in his voice makes it quiver. /p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She doesn't know what to say, so she presses her mouth against his; a wordless promise. "Ask me again, once we defeat Gaea." She has a feeling her head will be clearer when Gaea is out of the picture. It's too hard to think with the constant threat looming over her head./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Percy smiles, understanding. "Whatever you say."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She wants to kiss him again, but she holds herself back, he's gotten this sad look on his face, and she knows he's thinking about Bob and Damasen. Her heart clenches, knowing the pain it must be causing him. He looks at the stars; they're growing brighter in the rapidly darkening sky./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Bob says hello."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; text-align: center;"**/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"The pillar felt hard against her back. She could vaguely register the tears staining her face. Her ears are still ringing from a piercing scream she heard while she was drowning in memories. It could have been her. But all that was driven out of her brain when a new, recent, and completely horrifying memory washed over her brain./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emWhen the monster dug it's talons into Percy's chest and flung him across the ground, Annabeth felt like she had been sucker-punched. Hard. She watched, unable to breathe, as Percy fell, barely moving. Her vision turned red as she ran, shouting, at the monster and without a moment's hesitation, she stabbed it in the belly. She didn't even bother to admire her handiwork as the beast dissolved. She ran to Percy as soon as the tips of its head turned to dust. Her friends had already gathered around him. They were fishing around in their backpacks, digging into their pockets, and checking their canteens. Annabeth knew what they were whispering to each other from meters away - /emthere's none left, it's all gone. emShe pushed through them to the body - no, the /empersonem - in the middle. /em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Percy," She murmured,unable to raise her voice to more than a whisper. /em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emspan style="font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial;"span style="font-size: 13px;"He took a shuddering breath, and winced. Annabeth made a strange wailing sound and dropped down next to him, trying to put her hands on his wounds to stop the endless flow of blood./span/span/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Oh good, I'm not crazy then," Percy said. /em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emShe felt like slapping him, how could he joke around right now? She scanned her eyes over his wounds. There was a big hole in the shirt right at the bottom of his rib cage. His flesh was torn open, glistening red. There was a big cut above his left eyebrow, a gash on his arm, and multiple scratches on his legs. She tried to stay positive but she knew, somehwere in the back of her mind, that there was too much blood on the floor, on his shirt, on her hands. /em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Pretty bad, huh?" He whispered, his voice wavering./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Ambrosia. We need to get you ambrosia." She fished out the quarter of an ambrosia square she had in her pocket, her hands were trembling so bad she could barely hold it. She shoved it into his mouth and for a moment his face seemed to gain some color./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Mm, cookies, chocolate chip cookies." Percy murmured smiling; it looked innocent even with his bloody lips. Then he grunted like it hurt to smile./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Do you feel better?" she breathed, ordering herself to remain calm./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Listen, Annabeth," he took her hand, "I-"/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em style="font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Don't you /emspan style="font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial;"span style="font-size: 13px;"dare/span/spanemspan style="font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial;"span style="font-size: 13px;", Jackson." She cut him off, knowing exactly what he was going to say. /span/span/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emspan style="font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial;"span style="font-size: 13px;"She cupped his face in her hands and took a shaky breath, willing the tears not to fall. Of course they fell. /span/span/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Somebody get some Ambrosia from the ship! NOW!" She cried at the five behind her./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emFrank immediately turned into a giant eagle and flew off in the direction of the ship./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emShe turned her attention back to Percy, and started to sob./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"It's okay, shhh." Percy raised a hand and wiped away her tears. Here he was, dying, and Percy was the one comforting her./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emspan style="font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial;"span style="font-size: 13px;""No," Annabeth said shakily, shaking her head feverishly, "Stop. Make it stop."/span/span/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"I'm sorry." Percy replied calmly. He was taking all of this much better than she was./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emHis hand was still squeezing hers. He took a deep, trembling breath./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Hurts," Percy winced, "A lot."/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"We're going to get you some ambrosia and you'll be fine." Annabeth murmured. /em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emShe stroked his face and kissed him. He had enough strength to kiss back. But immediately after that, his breathing turned shallow. How long was Frank taking?/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Annabeth, we defeated Gaea," Percy said, panting with the effort of talking. "We did it."/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Yeah, we're all safe now. Well, to some extent."/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em"Good, then I'll die happy."/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emThe words pierced her like a knife. With despair, she knew they were true. Percy was dying. The Fates had no mercy. He must have noticed that she didn't try to comfort him or anything, because he kissed her hand and held it close. The tears fell alarmingly fast down Annabeth's face, hot and pearly tears bigger than she had ever seen before. She lifted his head and placed it on her lap. He drummed his fingers on her side and she ran her hands through his hair and she could almost believe they were back in Percy's cabin in the /emArgo IIem, curled up on the bed./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emShe didn't remember how long it took, but eventually, his chest stopped rising and falling and his eyes went glassy and she could feel the soft beat of his fingers on her leg anymore. /em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"The tears had finally left Annabeth alone. She had to face it, it really had happened. No dream, not even a nightmare, was that vivid. She could recall the feel of his pale and dead skin, the absence of breath flying out of his lips, When he died, Nico had told them he could see Percy's spirit leaving his body. He said he had never seen a brighter soul. Percy would have to be granted Elysium./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"The others had stared in shock at Annabeth, Percy's body, and Nico. She figured it was because the three of them had known each other the longest. The two of them should be feeling the most pain. And they were right. Annabeth doubted anyone had ever felt as empty as did right now, as meaningless as she did now. There was a whole section of her heart that felt as if it had been hollowed out with a carving knife until it was raw and damaged to an irreparable level. She knew now that she would never love someone as she had loved Percy, because how can you replace someone who risked their life for you countless times, saved the world with you, turned down being a god for you, and fell into Tartarus with you? Who can beat that? Annabeth smiled to herself as she thought about how Percy had set an all-new level. He had been the best thing that happened to her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"With that thought, Annabeth made her way back to mess hall, back to friends she had so rudely left./p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px;"strongAN: I hope with my whole being that nothing even remotely close to this ever happens. Leave a review if you can!/strong/p  
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